The Director of the Arts Administration program at Boston University and of the Museum of Contemporary Cuts, Lanfranco Aceti is proud to announce, Sound Politics,to be performed at the Boston Athenaeum, September 30, 2016, from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm. Sound Politics is a curated project that includes two performances, Duty and Untitled for Cyborg String Quartet, by Australian artist Michaela Davies.
These pieces explore the application of electric muscle stimulation (EMS) to musical composition and performance. MIDI compositions created by the artist are used to trigger custom-built EMS devices that send electrical impulses to performers’ muscles. These impulses generate specific involuntary movements, causing the performers to ‘play’ their instruments.
The performances explore the complexities of contemporary living in an ‘electrified’ and ‘engineered’ age where the will of the people appears to be determined by involuntary reactions to electronically mediated stimuli.